4:45pm: Jeff Fletcher at AOL FanHouse says that Damon is unlikely to end up in Oakland. GM Billy Beane says a utility infielder is the priority now.
1:12pm: In a pair of tweets, ESPN's Buster Olney says that the A's and free agent Johnny Damon are still talking even after they signed Ben Sheets. Damon wouldn't get much money, but if Oakland offers anything more than the $2MM the Yankees are bidding, he might be best off taking it.
It was originally reported that Damon would be a Plan B for the A's, meaning they'd only turn to him if the Sheets well dried up. It's worth nothing that Damon benefited greatly from the New Yankee Stadium, posting a .915 OPS at home and a .795 OPS on the road in 2009. Moving to Oakland on a one-year deal might not be the best move if he's looking to boost his value for a potential payday after the 2010 season.
This will be interesting
Yankees’ Left Field market just dried up, unless DeJesus becomes available (not sure how much is left in the yanks’ farm system, though). Boras now has the leverage to get Damon a $4-5 mil one yr deal with a possible team option of $7-8 mil.
Not happening unless R. Johnson, Dye, Winn & Baldelli are all out. Boras has no leverage against the Yanks at all.
Am I the only one who is actively cheering for the market to collapse entirely, and actually see Damon go unsigned?
I really have nothing against the guy, but it’s become farcical…
billy bean is up to something…..im so glad he signed ben sheets, this year should be fun
Never read anything confirming the Yanks offered Damon 2M
It’s based off that the Yankees have approx. 2M left to spend.
It’s also worth noting Damon had his worst season in Oakland, not including his rookie year. Considering Damon’s popup rate, Oakland is a terrible destination.
the A’s are just signing players hoping to have a good first half so they can trade them at the deadline and get something valueble like last year with matt holliday…because i dont really see how they can compete with the M’s and the angels, they wont even compete with the rangers so that is the only explanation that i see with the signings that they are making or want to make.
The mariners scored the least runs in the league in 2009.
They replace johjima, branyan, and beltre with figgins, moore, kotchman
They lack rotation depth unless one is crazy over rowland smith and snell.
Their main power source will be bradley, griffey, and gutierrez
Agreed. On paper, yes, the M’s look good. They are on a positive path and have made some bold moves this winter, but it remains to be seen if they actually make them better on the field. The Angels will also be favorites by default for some, but they too have weaknesses. The division is wide open at this point.
how does damon to the A’s make any kind of sense?
So they can deal him to the Yankees for prospects mid-season.
No way. Yankees won’t want Damon back mid-season especially since they will be comfortably in a pennant race (or running away with it).
I was half-joking, but the A’s probably think that they could deal Damon at the mid-way point to a contender–especially if Damon is signed cheaply.
thats working under the assumption Damon plays well in oakland. Which i find hard to believe considering his defense being put on display in such a huge ballpark and his offensive production the last time he played for the A’s.
Right, of course. Yankees Stadium def. boosted his HR-numbers, but not necessarily his hitting abilities.
fair point. but his career numbers along with his numbers that year he played for the A’s would seem to be a concern. (career numbers playing in oakland: .242/.322/.321)
They will not be dealing him to the Mets in mid-season, that is for sure. The Mets will be sellers at that point.
How is it that Nady gets 3+ guaranteed + incentives, Melky = 3.1, Rick Ankiel – 3.25. No way does Damon settle for 2M. Makes no sense… He starting price will be 5M
Defense, age, and the fact that people are willing to pay 3 million but not willing to pay 5. It’s about money for these teams, not “what’s fair”. Johnny’s better than those guys but nobody is willing to give him that much money, it seems.
Actually, Damon may want to sign with Oakland in order to prove he CAN hit outside Yankee stadium. A decent performance in Oakland, even if it’s an OPS a little under .800, would convince clubs he wouldn’t be a disaster outside the Bronx.
Plus, he knows that Oakland will be looking to trade him midseason to a contending club.
That’s a good point about proving he can hit, but I think an OPS under .800 kills him for next season unless his defense improves a lot. He needs to hit over .800 outside Yankee Stadium (with Oakland no less) or he’s in trouble next year, I think.
Going forward because of Damon’s age and suspect defense he can’t expect to get any contract offers worth more than 2 years for the 2010 season or any year in the future. He will have to take similar deals to Bobby Abreu. Teams are all about financial flexibility now and have a “what have you done for me lately” mindset, they are not thinking in terms of “what could you do for me”. No one is getting more than two years unless unless they are a top tier player in their prime.
The market has collapsed for Damon. There’s no more waiting for it to do so.
This is his worst nightmare. It’s almost February and he’s scrounging for scraps. At this point any team that gives him more than 4 million dollars is bidding against themselves.
When the Yankees were offering 2 years and 14 million and he passed/didn’t jump, he sank his off season. He’ll be lucky to make 7 million for the next 2 years now.
The A’s just NEVER LEARN! Early reports, A’s have learned from last years mistakes and will not go after veteren free agents this winter. Uhh yeah right! Ben Sheets, Coco Crisp, Kevin Kouzmanoff (I like this one due to his age) and now Johnny Damon?? It’s business as usual for Oakland. Too bad even with these additions, I don’t see them really improving from last year.
aging?
Sheets,Kouzmanoff,and Crisp are in the age 28-31 range. Its 1 yr deals, so no long term risk
I’m not a huge damon fan, but A’s are looking to protect their OF depth since crisp/rajai/sweeney, they dont have a legit 4th OF after trading away hairston/cunningham. Other options: Jake Fox/Eric Patterson (both have defensive issues) or travis Buck who’s been in their doghouse. Unfortunately Michael Taylor wont be ready till mid to late season.
The market hasn’t dried up, the Yankees don’t need a starting left fielder. They’d take Damon if he comes cheap but otherwise they were looking for a Johnson type, not a top left fielder.
As for this, I think it’d be a mistake for both sides. The A’s don’t need an outfielder and he won’t hit as well for them, and as for Damon, unless the A’s offer quite a bit more than the Yankees do, I think it’d be a mistake for him to go there, his value next year would figure to drop significantly.
Someone explain to me how Johnny Damon goes from, Yankees better offer me at least what I made last year ( $13 million) or I’m not interested…. TO he’d be best served taking any offer over $2 million!?!?! This is a colossal screw up by damon and his agent. Maybe New York inflated damon’s ego to where he feels he’s more valuable than he really is. Tragic.
Well, Boras did screw up big time here (especially since the Yankees supposedly offered 2 years, 20 million at one point and it was turned down), but it’s not that Damon has no value. It’s a combination of poor defense when teams are looking at defense harder now, two top left fielders being on the market, a lot of mid range, 3 million dollar or so options available, and the fact that he didn’t hit as well outside Yankee Stadium. A lot of stuff happened to drive his value down. He’s got a chance at being a bargain at whatever price he settles on, but he can’t really hold out for his “value” right now.
The yanks offered 2/14. Damon’s counter offer was for 2/20 after asking for /26 and 2/24
i dont get it. they have plenty of outfield depth
I think the Yanks have offered more than $2 mil. It’s been said that their alleged “budget” allowed for an additional $2 mil BUT they would be willing to go to $5 or $6 mil for Damon.
I like the Sheets pickup; not so high on the money they paid him. If they can get Damon for 3.0-3.5 million.. I say definitely go for it.
Lineup outlook:
1. Crisp-CF
2. Damon-LF
3. Cust-DH
4. Fox-1b
5. Kousemanoff-3b
6. Suzuki-C
7. Ellis-2b
8. Pennington-SS
9. Sweeney-RF
Bench:
IF- A. Miles
1b- D.Barton
OF- R.Davis
IF/OF- E.Patterson
C- Powell
Rotation:
RHP J.Duscherer
LHP B.Anderson
RHP Sheets
RHP Cahill
LHP Braden
Bullpen:
A. Bailey (CL)
M. Wuertz
B. Ziegler
J. Devine
G. Gonzalez
D. Eveland
Damon in the Oakland outfield would be pure comedy in that park. Watching him dive for a ball and come up with a piece of the grass and then running after the ball and making a bounce throw to the cutoff man is the stuff of pitchers nightmares.
If your team wants to emphasize pitching in a pitchers park, Damon is not the man for that team.
Damon is suited to play in parks like Yankee Stadium, Fenway, Citizens Bank Park, etc.
Places like Turner Field, AT&T Park, Oakland Stadium, Safeco Field are not the parks you want a Johnny Damon playing the majority of his games.
Sheets was a good signing, don’t know where they are going with Damon though.
Please A’s… no Damon. No need and I dont see him as much of an upgrade.
@ Barretman
No way Davis sits over Crisp. Guy was phenomenal last year. If he plays that way this year, he leads the majors in steals and is a shoe-in All Star.
i dont see why he wouldnt consider retirement i know he still can help a team but whats left to accomplish getting 3000 hits but he already won 2 rings why settle for a salary far less than what the guy deserves 2 million for him is a joke to me but if the a’s get him it would be much better for baseball damon for say 5 mil to oakland sounds right to me plus incentives
Why settle for a salary far less than he deserves?
Because if he holds out for “what he deserves”, he could end up making $0. Even $2m is more than he’d make if he retired.
This rumor is entirely due to Olney doing a favor for Boras. Olney’s the only one reporting this from sources and any other news source is jumping on Olney’s back. The Yankees remain the only team really interested and Damon is eventually going to settle with them.
Olney was also the only one reporting the A’s & Sheets as well. Regardless, I don’t see Damon as a fit in Oakland.
Still wondering when the O’s are going to jump in on this…
1. Roberts, 2b
2. Damon, dh/lf
3. Markakis, rf
4. Tejada, 3b
5. Jones, cf
6. Reimold, dh
7. Wieters, c
8. Atkins, 1b
9. Izturis, ss
If Wieters and Reimold continue to develop and one of them moves into the cleanup slot around midseason, that’s not a bad lineup.
A couple of A’s beat writers made mention of it as well. Every single A’s beat writer is saying that the A’s and Damon are unlikely to experience a reunion.
Does that mean a Felipe Lopez sighting in Oakland is forthcoming?
come on cashman… just shell out the $5 or 6 million and sign him already!
The Yankees don’t need Johnny Damon, they’ll still win the division without him. I like a lineup with Nick Johnson hitting better anyways. They don’t need an all-star at every position, just put Gardner in left and even if he hits .200 they’ll win 100+ games. I’m not a Yankee hater I rooted for them in the WS so don’t look at my comments as hate, I’m just saying my thoughts.
The Yankees don’t need Johnny Damon, they’ll still win the division without him. I like a lineup with Nick Johnson hitting better anyways. They don’t need an all-star at every position, just put Gardner in left and even if he hits .200 they’ll win 100+ games. I’m not a Yankee hater I rooted for them in the WS so don’t look at my comments as hate, I’m just saying my thoughts.
The Braves should go after Johnny Damon now and get another solid outfielder to fight for playing time.
The Braves should go after Johnny Damon now and get another solid outfielder to fight for playing time.
Give it up already Boras and Damon. Jeez.
Give it up already Boras and Damon. Jeez.
Its funny because this guy is literally tailor made to the junk Ozzie Guillen keeps throwing out to the media about having a versatile DH. His speed and on base skills would cater to Ozzie’s apparent idiotic love for the NL game but its unfortunate that his agent is likely whats stands in the way of the Sox making him an offer.
I loved how I called the A’s signing sheets and everyone doubted it. It made perfect sense for him to come to Oakland. A
Read the last part of the MLBTR contributor’s blog entry…
It was very doubtful Johnny Damon was going to get a “big payday” after the 2010 season. He can’t get one after the 2009 season.